Things Haven’t Changed Much
Of course, “not guilty” would be a bald-faced lie.
Politics
That’s Not Funny
My actual philosophy on whether a topic is OK for joking was best expressed by Dennis Miller…
Uncomfortably Close to the Truth
I didn’t say how it should work, just how it does work. And really: can you argue that this hasn’t been done repeatedly?
The Overview Effect
The Overview Effect refers to the experience of seeing firsthand the reality of the Earth in space, which is immediately understood to be….
Body Cameras
Seriously: just about every public official ought to be wearing them — with the public being able to randomly view interactions.
Alternative Fats
Heh heh heh.
Newspeak Ain’t All Bad
“Newspeak” was the language mandated by the totalitarian state ruled by “the Party” in the world of Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. Newspeak is a controlled language, of restricted grammar and limited vocabulary, a linguistic design meant to limit the freedom of thought.
Father, I Cannot Tell a Lie
There’s a lot more about the George Washington “Cannot tell a lie” story taught it American schools. Such as: it’s a total lie.
Death and Taxes
And what do you know: the world is a lot less civilized than in his time. Holmes retired from the Court at the age of 90 years, making him the oldest Justice in the Supreme Court’s history. No, that’s not the “death” part of the title. See yesterday’s item for that.
Build the Wall
“I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.” –President Thomas Jefferson, January 1802